N.C. State junior forward C.J. Leslie announced Monday morning that he’s decided to skip his senior season with the Wolfpack and enter the NBA Draft.

“After discussing this with my family and Coach Gottfried, I have decided this is the right move for me and my family,” Leslie said in a school press release. ”Growing up watching N.C. State basketball, I’m honored to have been a part of this program for the past three years. I’m proud to have been a part of helping re-establish the Wolfpack as one of the nation’s elite programs.”

C.J. Leslie averaged 15.1 points per games for the Wolfpack in 2012-13. (AP Photo)

When he arrived at the Raleigh campus, some thought he might only last a season or two before heading to the NBA, and that speculation increased when the Wolfpack made a run to the Elite Eight in the 2012 NCAA Tournament. He returned, though, as part of a group of talented veterans, with forward Richard Howell, wing Scott Wood and point guard Lorenzo Brown.

N.C. State was crowned preseason ACC champs and ranked in the top 10 in almost every preseason poll, but the team never quite lived up to those lofty expectations. The Wolfpack finished tied for fourth in the ACC and earned a No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament, where they fell to Temple in their opener.

Leslie developed a much more polished game in his three years at N.C. State, though he never completely shed the “talented enigma” label. The athletic 6-9 forward averaged 15.1 points and 7.4 rebounds his junior season, up slightly from 14.7 and 7.3 as a sophomore and 11.0 and 7.2 as a freshman.

“It has been a pleasure getting to know and coach Calvin,” second-year coach Mark Gottfried said in the same release. “I want thank him for all he’s done for this program, and I believe he has bright career ahead of him at the next level.”

Once considered a potential lottery pick, Leslie is projected to go early in the second round of the latest draftexpress.com mock, late in the first round of the nbadraft.net mock, and he’s a “next five in” on espn.com’s Big Board (top 30 draft prospects).